Bookmark Stew (Part 2)

Continuing to try clear out the bookmark list...

ITEM! Ok, so let's start with a lighter one this time. Ohio, I really have to ask what's going on up there? First there was the guy who was arrested and charged with a felony for having sex with a picnic table a couple of years back, and now there's the guy accused of having sex with an inflatable pool raft. Which might not be so bad if he didn't already have four other public indecency charges including attempting to violate an inflatable pumpkin.

ITEM! There have been a number of different ides for ways to improve the economy and to "create jobs", and I really don't want to get into that whole debate, but one thing that really seems to me something of a no-brainer is for someone to come up with a truly well-planned and forward thinking outline for improving the country's infastructure and mass-transit systems, all the way from the top down. Over at Mother Jones, Kevin Drum proposes spending a trillion dollars on infrastructure, and it looks like the president is on board with infrastructure spending, stating in a recent speech on jobs and the transportation bill that  "if we’re honest, we also know that when it comes to our nation’s infrastructure – our roads, our railways, mass transit, airports – we shouldn’t just be playing patch-up or catch-up, we should be leading the world... it’s unacceptable when countries like China are building high-speed rail networks and gleaming new airports while more than a million construction workers who could be doing the same thing are unemployed right here in America... we’re going to have to have a serious conversation in this country about making real, lasting investments in our infrastructure -- from better ports to a smarter electric grid; from high-speed Internet to high-speed rail. And at a time when interest rates are low and workers are unemployed, the best time to make those investments is right now". Which is fine as far as it goes, but really doesn't go anywhere near far enough. One might think by now that this President would understand by now that talk is only good for so long and now is not the time to talk, but to act. Otherwise, he risks losing the chance to accomplish anything.

ITEM! Of course, what it's really going to take to get things accomplished is not more gamesmanship between Mr Obama and Mr. Boenher (really, have we come down to this kind of petty "he said/he said" BS?), but real people, constituents on both sides actually standing up and confronting those people who are supposed to be representing them instead of simply buying into the party line and the fearmongering, and then, when they try to go back to their carefully prepared charts and comments not letting go, and not getting distracted, but repeating the questions and trying to get them to give actual answers, as in this video:


ITEM! I mentioned above that the time for talk from this president is over, and there's a very specific reason for that. In my last post I mentioned "the seeming conflict between Barack Obama the Candidate and Barack Obama the President," and promised to go into that more this time. Fortunately, I don't have to, because Jesse Lava has done a fine job a summarizing (with extensive links) why so many of us who bought into Mr. Obama's promising campaign rhetoric are now feeling let down and betrayed by the man we actually got.

ITEM! Ok, let's move away from the politics for a bit, shall we? Ah, here's an interesting one from an unexpected corner: the comic strip character Popeye. Apparently one of the writer on the strip was fired in 1992 because of a series of strips that he submitted to the syndicate (which were never, by the way, actually published) that not only concerned an overheard conversation which led a character to think that Popeye was encouraging Olive to get an abortion, but has a priest utter the line "You fool!! ..Without Satan we're out of a job!!"

ITEM! Different cities become known for different things over the years. Nashville for its country music, Austin for its arts scene, Seattle for coffee and rain, and Pittsburgh for protractors. Yes, I said protractors. Y'know, like you had to get for math class that one year? Apparently they're popping up all over the city, super-glued to all kinds of surfaces, and no one seems to know how or why. This guy has even created a master list (with over 250 entries) and has lots of pics.

ITEM! Ok, let's begin this one with this bit of reporting. Yes, the initial story is a from back in June, but it also includes the latest information which has been updated since.

Alright, so we have a guy facing 75 years in jail for openly photographing the police doing their job in public. Then we have this ruling from a federal appeals court in a different case, affirming that "the First Amendment protects the right to videotape the activities of police officers in public." And that would seem like it would be the end of Mr. Allison's problems, right? Especially with the court saying things like "[A] citizen's right to film government officials, including law enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public space is a basic, vital, and well-established liberty safeguarded by the First Amendment." and "Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting 'the free discussion of governmental affairs.'"and "[t]he terseness implicitly speaks to the fundamental and virtually self-evident nature of the First Amendment's protections in this area." All of which is great, except for the fact that this decision came down from a court in the first federal circuit, but Illinois, and therefore the Allison case, is in the 7th circuit. What this means in practical terms is that although the Glik case can be use as precedent in the Allison case it's not binding. This one could be going all the way to the supreme court, kids!

LAST ITEM! Finally today, I want to leave you with a recommendation for an incredibly fascinating site. Wonders and Marvels is the kind of always-intriguing spots on the internet that I could simply lose myself in for days. Basically, it's a collection of articles "for Curious Minds, who love History, its Odd Stories, and Good Reads." Recent articles include the discovery of Pompeii's human remains, midwifery in colonial America, the myth of Joseph Kennedy, bootlegger, and even What the Romans Used for Toilet Paper. Check it out!

Ok, that's it for today. But be sure to check back in a few days for a special Film and Video edition of Bookmark Stew!